Into the Darkness Read online

  Images of teeth and biting, and then… hardness.

  Those golden eyes drew me in, but this time, it wasn’t bad, or wrong.

  I kissed my wife and directed her to lie between the others. Leaning down, I moved her mouth to my shoulder.

  The icy bite of the Basilisk filled my veins.

  And, made me ready.

  Her long legs felt like home as they wrapped around me.

  Then, I buried myself within her.

  She might not like men, but she liked me… now.

  - 29 -

  “That was… incredible,” Gavin murmured, reminding me that he was here... after I climaxed Brynn three times.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” I hissed at him, as I turned my head.

  I had just fucked his daughter while he was in the room. Somehow he had hidden from all of us and enjoyed our little orgy.

  “That wouldn’t be any fun,” he said with a chuckle in his voice. “You are a lucky man, Bazal.”

  “Your daughter is under me, get out,” I yelled back at him.

  “I’m just her breach-father,” he answered. “I didn’t raise her, or even knew that she existed until a few days ago. So, I have no problem watching you fuck her from behind. In fact, I think the pale woman wants to take her own turn with her.”

  With a snap-hiss, Gavin lit a cigarette.

  Nope, that was pot.

  “Please, continue,” he said, leaning back. “This is… excellent.”

  I climbed off Brynn, still mostly erect.

  “Damn,” Gavin hissed. “Are you part horse?”

  I blushed, embarrassed even though I had grown up in the caves without wearing anything for years.

  I stalked over to the man, determined to yank his ass out of our bedroom.

  Gavin smiled and raised his hand to his eye patch.

  Raising it, I had a second, before a bright pink flash silenced my mind.

  --M--

  I found myself standing in a circular area set aside from a much larger room. Marble pillars and an ornate tiled floor encircled the sunroom while glass panels let light filter in from above. Green plants of all shapes and sizes surrounded me.

  Music swirled out of a room to my left. It was a strange, harpsichord time music that was haunting and eerie at the same time. I walked past the columns, crossed a wide hallway, and entered a sitting room that was filled with people. They were mingling and talking. Each of the occupants was dressed to impress, either in expensive suits or a fancy gowns.

  A woman was playing the harpsichord, while everyone watched. Her charisma drew me to her, making me want to see more of her.

  She had short blonde hair that wasn’t her natural color. It made her look younger and more vibrant than her actual age of fifty or older. A long silver dress fit tightly to her waist, accenting her breasts to their fullest, which was eye-popping amount.

  Around her neck was an antique necklace. It looked like a silver snake wrapped around a huge emerald. The silver was so old that it had started to turn black.

  Green eyes, the color of the stone glanced up and smiled at me.

  “Welcome, Bazal… to the House of the Serpent.”

  The music stopped, and the woman stood up, facing me square on.

  Brynn.

  I saw Brynn in her eyes even though Brynn’s eyes were brown. And, maybe in the mouth. There was a definite family resemblance.

  Her mother. It had to be. I could see it clearly now. Like her daughter, she had a long thin waist and legs that went on forever.

  She glided up to me, and her perfume slipped around me, alive in its own right. It was the scent of a dangerous animal who enjoyed stalking her prey.

  Lilacs and lilies.

  I felt like a mongoose watching a dangerous cobra advance on me.

  “I asked Gavin to open a line of communication between us,” she purred. “My name is Addisyn Cantrell. I wanted to meet, my overly endowed son-in-law.”

  Suddenly, I realized that I was naked.

  Dammit. I was going to kill Gavin. He knew what would happen if he connected me to her in the state that I was in.

  All of the men and women stopped talking and focused on the two of us.

  Yay.

  Addisyn stepped closer. From this angle, I could see that she had a faint dusting of green glitter on her chest and shoulders. Her eyes suddenly turned snake yellow along with the horizontal eye slits.

  “Brynn has chosen you…”

  Addisyn took a deep breath of my scent.

  “But, you have taken her instead…”

  The other members suddenly hissed. My hackles rose without even thinking.

  “And, made her yours,” she growled. “How dare you claim my daughter, you filthy Goblin.”

  I heard the sound of daggers sliding out of their sheaths.

  “You are a mongrel. A dirty peasant who never should have been allowed to fuck my child.”

  The world rippled.

  And, then Brynn was standing next to me... as naked as her husband.

  “Mother,” she said with a smile as she moved closer to me.

  The room began to smell like a snake pit. The acrid scent assaulted my nostrils. Looking around, I saw that all of the members in the room had the same yellow eyes.

  Addisyn held out her hand to Brynn. “Let me help you, my darling,” she offered. “This thing is not your husband. He has bewitched you.”

  “Just like father bewitched you,” Brynn answered, as her hand wrapped around my waist.

  “That man is a nuisance that I have removed,” she growled. “I am his slave… no more.”

  Brynn’s emotions were stewing inside of her.

  Some of Addisyn’s words stuck into Brynn’s soul like arrows.

  I had taken her freewill.

  But, I didn’t feel any anger inside of my wife.

  Instead, I felt contentment.

  “Before he claimed me… I was angry all the time,” Brynn confessed. “And agitated. Everything made me nervous, so in turn, I had to control everything that I could.”

  Sighing, Brynn added. “Sleep was impossible because someone was always plotting against me, or be preparing to stick a dagger into my back.”

  Stepping in front of me, she added. “And, loving a man was impossible. Woman, I could lust after, and fuck with a fierce passion, but a man, never. They were only for mating and eating.”

  “See,” her mother hissed. “He has changed your sexual preference, making you someone that you are not.”

  “Not true,” Brynn answered. “Just seconds ago, I made love to a woman who was lying right next to Bazal. Not only did he encourage it, but he also enjoyed me touching her.”

  “All men enjoy that,” her mother snapped back. “It is burned into their DNA.”

  “I also enjoyed when Bazal made me cum three times,” Brynn added gleefully.

  Turning, my wife glared at a man in the crowd.

  “My husband… fulfills me,” she confessed to him.

  The man who Brynn had singled out, paled and looked away.

  It was all I could do not to grow hard in front of Brynn’s mother. My wife’s praise… felt good.

  I put my hands on her waist and felt scales.

  Looking down, I saw a handful of green and gold scales that were slowly growing on her hips and spine.

  Holy shit.

  It was one thing to see snake eyes. It was entirely different to see snake scales as well.

  But, they didn’t feel cold or slimy.

  Instead, they felt warm and were actually pleasant to touch.

  I found myself ignoring Brynn’s mother and all the other snakes. Instead, I ran my hands over the scales at her sides and felt… pleasure.

  Brynn elbowed me.

  Looking up, I saw that her mother was angry and scowling at me. I had been ignoring her.

  “He is a dirty Goblin,” her mother hissed, happy to have my attention back so that she could insult me.

  Brynn smi
led.

  “He is a Goblin,” she said, as I felt a blossom of acceptance flow from her to me.

  “And,” my wife added, “my husband. If you hurt him, you hurt me.”

  “You are only saying that because he cannot protect himself,” Addisyn growled. “He is not a man… like Jeffrey.”

  The man who Brynn had humiliated started walking away briskly.

  Jeffrey, I assumed.

  Brynn held up her little finger. “Jeffrey was… tiny,” she mused. “And, unfulfilling.”

  Then, she held up her whole fist. “As you can see, Bazal is… well defined.”

  “Eat him,” her mother hissed. “Fill him with venom and devour him.”

  Brynn began thinking about human flesh.

  How it tasted.

  And, how it melted in her mouth.

  Then, she smiled.

  “That would be a waste... of potential.”

  “He has no potential,” her mother scoffed. “Just like both of your fathers.”

  “Bazal is going to become so powerful that you will kneel to him, gladly,” Brynn announced. “He will shake the gates of heaven with his magic. And, claim each of your souls as his servant.”

  Turning, she looked up at me. “My husband’s harem will number in the thousands. He will be… magnificent.”

  Snapping her fingers, she added, “I will make sure of it.”

  Then, she reached up on her tippy toes and kissed me. Her mouth was so warm that it felt like mine would burst into flame.

  “Release us,” Brynn murmured to her mother, “or watch. I don’t care.”

  My wife hopped into my arms and began rubbing against me with her womanhood.

  Not becoming erect… was impossible.

  Her mother screeched… and then the connection was broken.

  - 30 -

  I opened my eyes to find Gavin staring at me with astonishment.

  I punched him.

  Hard.

  Right in the nose.

  The burned-out wizard shrieked and fell backward with blood gushing everywhere.

  I reached down to pick him up and punch him again, but Brynn touched my arm.

  She didn’t demand or yell.

  Instead, she only said, “Please stop.”

  It was the please that got to me again. There was something about a woman looking at me… with desire… and saying please.

  “You fucking broke my nose,” he groaned.

  “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you,” I shouted. “You sent me to talk to her mother… naked!”

  Gavin grinned.

  “I knew it would piss her off,” he said with a playful look in his eyes.

  Gavin pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and held it up to his face to staunch the blood.

  Taesa was suddenly next to Brynn. I could feel her cool warmth against my side. “Let me eat him,” she said, pressing harder against me. “I’m hungry.”

  Gavin swallowed hard.

  “I can teach you magic,” he insisted. “And I have your spellbook.”

  That got my attention.

  I stuck my hand out and gestured.

  Gavin slowly got up and reached into his coat.

  Then, he handed me the book that Brynn had given me.

  I smiled. Holding the grimoire again gave me a chance. With its spells, I might be able to protect my wives.

  “You think of them all as your wives,” Brynn murmured hearing my thoughts. “Even Hana.”

  I shrugged and nodded.

  “In the caves,” I said, “a male Goblin had many wives. And, all it takes to claim them… is their acceptance of him as their husband. My father had dozens of wives.”

  Brynn looked at me and then smiled as well. “I have always wanted sister wives,” she announced.

  “Get out,” I said to Gavin.

  The mage nodded and left the room in a hurry.

  The other girls were watching the three of us.

  Mary looked satisfied, but Hana looked nervous.

  “Does anyone object to being my wife?” I asked.

  Mary crawled out of bed, pulling Hana with her.

  “We are yours, My Love,” Mary said. “Aren’t we, Hana?”

  “Don’t pressure her,” I said, trying not to make it a command.

  “Hana, do you want to be mine?” I asked.

  The perpetually frightened girl nodded and then smiled. She slipped up to me and hugged me tightly.

  “Do you mean it?” she asked. Through our link, I could feel her fear. She thought that I would leave her now that we had had sex or just ignore her.

  “I’m not leaving you, or any of my wives,” I said. “But, we do need to figure out where we are going and how we are going to survive.”

  “I am rich,” Brynn announced.

  We all turned and looked at her.

  “I am the Heir to the House of the Serpent, in Ashmouth,” she explained. “I ran away to Savannah because I didn’t want to marry a man.”

  “Jeffrey?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “Why did you marry my brother?” I asked. “And, not a woman?”

  “I wanted a baby,” she replied.

  “Why did you eat him then?”

  “After I conceived, my mind was overtaken by my Basilisk nature...”

  Sighing, she gestured with frustration. “....it just sort of happened. I fought against my instincts for weeks...”

  Then, she shrugged.

  I didn’t like that answer, but for now, I would have to accept it.

  “Are you going to eat Bazal?” Hana said, looking very unhappy.

  “Would you do anything to hurt him?” Brynn asked her.

  Hana shook her head.

  “Me neither,” Brynn answered.

  But, she hadn’t said that she didn’t want to eat me.

  I decided to keep that to myself as well.

  Instead, I said, “Your mother and her court don’t accept me as your husband.”

  “I don’t care what they accept,” she snapped back at me. “You are mine.”

  “And, ours,” Mary murmured. “If anyone tries to hurt you… they will suffer.”

  “If we return now, it will go badly,” I said. “I can’t control my new magic yet, I need time.”

  “We must go now,” Brynn replied. “The Time of Naming is at the end of the month. I must be there before the next full moon, or I will be disinherited.”

  “Brynn,” I said, pointing to myself and all the women around her. “We aren’t exactly dressed for court.”

  She pierced her lips.

  “Then,” she decreed, “we will change that in Charleston.”

  - 31 -

  Gavin was flying the airship when I exited the cabin, dressed for the first time in hours. He made a point of not looking at me.

  I walked to the front of the ship with my grimoire. I needed some time alone to think. Leaning against the mainmast, I opened the spellbook.

  The first spell was the Tame Familiar spell.

  The second was Draw Energy. It was a more powerful spell, meant for a wizard who already leaned taming. This spell explained several things to me. It felt like it had been written as a primer.

  It probably had been, I suddenly realized. Looking closer at the book, I realized that it was a primer, for taming, and controlling a wizard’s familiars and wives.

  Brynn should have given me a spellbook for doing anything but taming.

  Focusing, I inscribed the spell for drawing energy on three of my bubbles, roping them together. When I was done, the inscription shone on the black surface. The inscribing made the runes that glow with a silver hue.

  I shut the book and thought, as the eternal darkness flowed past us. In the distance, I could see the light of Charleston growing brighter. Usually, skyships sailed above the darkness, but Gavin was flying us through it via instruments so that no other ships would find us.